For the past three seasons, the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys basketball varsity team has been led by the law firm of Alex and Alex – Alex Gossett and Alex Vincent. But with Gossett now playing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Vincent at Case Western Reserve University respectively, the Huskies are entering a transitional period.
“We’re at the phase where practices are getting very intense,” said sixth-year OPRF coach Phil Gary, “which is a good thing. We’re getting after it every day.”
Besides Gossett and Vincent, OPRF saw five players move on from last year’s team, which finished 11-15 and was eliminated in the IHSA Class 4A regional semifinals by New Trier. The Huskies return seven players, including four who saw significant playing time: senior guards Jerome Delaney and Cameron Woods, who each averaged 6.0 points per game; and senior forwards Acoya King (10 ppg, out until January with a knee injury) and Matt Halper (8 ppg).
“This is going to be Jerome’s breakout season,” Gary said. “We’re expecting him to do big things for us.”
For Delaney, who is in his third varsity season, having the added responsibility as a team leader is something he’s looked forward to.
“Honestly, it feels good,” Delaney said. “I like coaching these young guys and I’m ready to give them more wisdom this year.”
Also returning are junior guard Tyson McLean, senior guard Logan Johnson, and senior forward Darren Law. OPRF’s top newcomers are sophomore guards Owen Towne and Trent Williams, junior guards Alex Lambe and D’Angelo Perkins, and junior forward George Gray, a transfer from Mount Carmel.
“Our young guys are doing really good,” Delaney said. “George is definitely really good; he’s going to be our main scorer this year for sure.”
“It’s always great to get young talent on the team,” Halper said. “Not only does it give them more opportunity, it gives other people more opportunity to step up and fight for their spots on the team. They’ve done a really good job of playing with guys older than them. They push the rest of our team in many ways.”
With the 6-6 Gossett and 6-10 Vincent gone, the Huskies will be noticeably smaller in size this season as Gray and King are the tallest players, which each standing 6-5. That means OPRF will rely on speed and quickness more than it has recently.
“We’re going to play faster and you’ll see us change defenses a lot,” Gary said.
OPRF has a challenging schedule as always. There’s the annual East Avenue Showdown with Fenwick at the Chicago Elite Classic, held at Credit Union One Arena, Dec. 5 at 6 p.m.; non-conference games against Deerfield, Niles North and Oswego; the Pontiac Holiday Classic, Dec. 29-31; the Mid-Suburban/West Suburban Challenge, Jan. 3 at Addison Trail; and the Wheaton-Warrenville South MLK Shootout, Jan. 17 and 19.
“Pontiac is a great tournament with great teams. If you play four games at Pontiac, you’re playing some good basketball,” Gary said.
The West Suburban Silver is perennially one of the top Chicago-area conferences, and this year, Gary feels Lyons Township should be the favorite. But he adds, “We’ll see how it unfolds.”
OPRF has struggled in recent years, and the Huskies want to return the program to its winning ways.
“We obviously want to have a winning season, that’s always the goal,” Gary said. “We want to augment a defensive identity; if we can guard and defend and make teams play to our strengths, that bodes well for us.”
Halper is ready to do his part in helping change OPRF’s fortunes.
“We really want to win,” he said, “whether it’s against Fenwick, Pontiac, or even getting a nice playoff run. We’ve craved to win since the last game of last season, and we’ve never been more ready.”
Monday night in the Battle of the Ridge at Northridge Prep in Chicago, OPRF (1-0) defeated TF South 65-56. Gray led the Huskies with 19 points and eight rebounds. Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Williams added 14 points.